The first time I was here was at the the end of the "anything goes" era of Tijuana over three decades ago. (And according to old-timers, well past the true "anything goes" era, which allegedly ended in the fifties. Although there was some pretty impressive stuff going on in 1973, so my imagination boggles a little at what the fifties might have been like) It was a bizarre, even grotesque place at times, particularly sections of the Revo and La Coahuila. Kind of fun though, as long as you didn't mind feeling like an extra in a Fellini film.

Since then it has grown dramatically in size and got steadily more mainstream commercial, although there are no shortage of drunken tourists trying to pretend they're F. Scott Fitzgerald on a forty day bender.

I lived here for about six months back in '66. It was trashy, but relatively safe and very entertaining.

Hung out mostly as The Blue Note listening to bands like this:



We also threw house parties which ultimately were our downfall when a neighbor old biddy (American, of course) called the cops and told them we were druggies and smugglers 'cause our noisy fun irritated her. Since Mexico has the Napoleanic Code for its legal system, we were held in the Tijuana jail for 11 days while being cleared by Mexican police and the FBI.

I have no idea what it's like today, though I've heard very bad things.